not low enough
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2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: New Jersey
not low enough
Just put progressives on my 2007 deluxe. ride quality is great but the bike is still not low enough. im about 1 inch away from the stop on the swing arm. my mechanic< who is great, said not to get to close to the stop. anyway, i really wanted to get low and tuck the whitewall into the fender. i know it can be done, ive seen it. what am i doing wrong?
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 275
Likes: 1
From:
Coming from an '06 Dyna here so bear with me. My experience has been the more I lowered the suspension, the harsher the ride became on any road surface the wasn't smooth. The lowered shocks had less suspension travel which required more preload to keep from bottoming out over bumps.
By comparison my '10 Heritage rides very well (slightly firm) on all road surfaces. Even the pothole infested roads in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area can't bottom this bike and the ride is always comfortable. I'm tempted to lower my Heritage but won't that reduce suspension travel and require more preload? That last thing my spine needs is a repeat of what happened when I lowered my Dyna.
By comparison my '10 Heritage rides very well (slightly firm) on all road surfaces. Even the pothole infested roads in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area can't bottom this bike and the ride is always comfortable. I'm tempted to lower my Heritage but won't that reduce suspension travel and require more preload? That last thing my spine needs is a repeat of what happened when I lowered my Dyna.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,109
Likes: 9
From: Connecticut
I ride this low all day long and in comfort. Shotgun airride does it for me. I can even go lower and ride with no issues
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 726
Likes: 3
From: Pacific Northwest
I need a little "Suspension 101"
Coming from an '06 Dyna here so bear with me. My experience has been the more I lowered the suspension, the harsher the ride became on any road surface the wasn't smooth. The lowered shocks had less suspension travel which required more preload to keep from bottoming out over bumps.
By comparison my '10 Heritage rides very well (slightly firm) on all road surfaces. Even the pothole infested roads in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area can't bottom this bike and the ride is always comfortable. I'm tempted to lower my Heritage but won't that reduce suspension travel and require more preload? That last thing my spine needs is a repeat of what happened when I lowered my Dyna.
By comparison my '10 Heritage rides very well (slightly firm) on all road surfaces. Even the pothole infested roads in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area can't bottom this bike and the ride is always comfortable. I'm tempted to lower my Heritage but won't that reduce suspension travel and require more preload? That last thing my spine needs is a repeat of what happened when I lowered my Dyna.
What Dr. V says makes sense, park it slammed, ride it pumped up. But Mr. Blk & Chrome, is it really that comfortable ridding the bike slammed?
Maybe you have to experience the air ride to become a believer, but they're way too $$$$ for me.
I put the 422s on mine, fully extended to slam the bike, but it rode like crap, so I backed it off to just a tad lower than stock. Ride is okay, but I felt I wasted my money on the shocks.
So my ?....If you lower the bike by an inch, do you loose an inch of travel, or is it not that simple. Say my bike had 4" of travel. Now I put the 422s on and lower my bike by 2". Do I still have the full 4" of travel?